In October 2018, a team of academic researchers working in animal ethics conducted interviews with the Montreal SPCA’s staff in order to identify and better understand the ethical challenges they face in their work. The research team then began to develop a set of detailed and concrete suggestions for addressing these ethical challenges.

On March
14-15th 2019, the research team will again meet with SPCA staff on
the Montreal SPCA’s premises. The first day of the workshop will be
devoted to presenting and discussing the suggestions prepared by the
research team on how the Montreal SPCA might respond to the ethical
challenges it faces. This will be an opportunity for the staff of the
Montreal SPCA as well as colleagues in philosophy and animal ethics
to give their feedback. Following the workshop, the research team
will finalise the policy document, taking into account the feedback
received.

The second day of the workshop will be devoted to the presentation and discussion of several academic papers written by members of the research team, which will ultimately be published in a collected volume. These papers provide a more detailed analysis of broader problems that animal welfare organizations face in their work.